chmod 534 Permission Explained

Notice: This is an unusual permission set: some classes have more access than the class above them. It is rarely correct in practice.

Octal

534

Symbolic

r-x-wxr--

Binary

101 011 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 534 gives the owner read/execute, the group write/execute, and everyone else read.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				5
Group (g)				3
Others (o)				4

setuid (4) setgid (2) sticky bit (1)

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

534

r-x-wxr--

Owner: read/execute · Group: write/execute · Others: read

chmod 534 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 534 guide →

chmod 534 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and enter
Group (g)	`3`	`-wx`	Write and execute	Can enter and create/delete files, but not list
Others (o)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 534 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.
Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.
Even the owner cannot modify this file without changing permissions first.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

534 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 775.

chmod 534 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 534 filename

# Apply using equivalent symbolic mode
chmod u=rx,g=wx,o=r filename

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 534 /path/to/dir
# Note: -R applies the same mode to files and directories. Use find to treat them separately:
find /path/to/dir -type d -exec chmod 534 {} +

# Verify permissions
stat -c '%a %A %n' filename    # Linux
stat -f '%Lp %Sp %N' filename   # macOS

# Example ls -l output:
-r-x-wxr-- 1 alice staff 1024 Jan 15 10:00 example.txt

umask Relationship

A umask of 243 makes new directories 534. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 534 mean?

chmod 534 gives the owner read/execute, the group write/execute, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 5 (read/execute), the group receives 3 (write/execute), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 534 safe?

chmod 534 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 534 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 534 is represented as r-x-wxr--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rx,g=wx,o=r filename".